Hay gathering and stacking machine.



INE.

W. G. GALLAHER.

nu ummm@ AND sTAoKmG MAoH APPLIGAIION FILED NOV. 9, 1911. 1 ,109,674.Patented Sept.- `8, 1914.

3 SHEETS-SHEET l.

W. G. GALLAHBR. HAY GATHEBING AND STAGKING MACHINE.

A v PPLIoATIon runnnoma, 1an.. ...Patentd 'SeptrsQ 1914.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

We? @am/r er.

WALLACE G. GALLAHER, or SALIDA, coLonADo.

HAY GAT'HEBING AND STACKING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. S, 1914.

Application tiled November 9, 1911. Serial No. 659,376.

u To all whom it may concern:

l useful Improvements in Hay Gathering and Stacking Machines, of whichthe following is a specification.

My invention relates toyagricultural machines,-1 and particularly tomachines for gathering and stacking hay.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a mechanism of thecharacter above referred to including a hay rack so constructed that itmay be used for receiving hay in the field and conveying it from thelield and then used to stack the hay or discharge itv from the rack.

A further.- object of the invention is to provide means whereby the haymay be dischargedjfrom either end of the rack.

A further obiect-is to provide conveying means in connection with amachine of this character, which means are adjustable so that the haymaybe either raised to a higher level than the rake or lowered to alower level than the rake.

A further object is to provide means whereby the rake and the conveyermechanism thereon may be used as a means of transferring hay from onestack to another stack.

Other objects will appear in the following description.

An embodiment of my invention is illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings wherein: f

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the ma chine, the motor, however, notbeing shown.

the course of Fig. 2 is a rear elevation of the machine.-

Fig. 3 is a side elevation thereof. Fig. 4 is a detail sectional view ofone end of the main conveyer and the coactingauxiliary conveyer showingthe gearingrwhereby the auxiliary conveyer is driven om the mainconveyer.- Fig. 5 is a detail fragmentary elevation of one end of themain frame forming the bottom of the rack, a portion of the conveyersprocket chains, and particularly showing the means whereby the upperflight of the sprocket chain is held in engagement with the sprocketwheel. Fig. 6 is an enlarged detail of the clutch device.

Corresponding and like parts arereferred to in the following descriptionand indicated in all the views of the accompanying drawings by the samereference characters.

The frame of the machine comprises the end frames 2 which areessentially duplicates of each other. These end frames as illustrated inFig. 3 are wider at their lower ends than at their upper ends so as toprovide a wide wheel base for the machine. Preferably, and asillustrated, the end frames each consist of a metal bar or rod havingthe form of an inverted U, the ends of the legs of the U-shaped barbeing outwardly diverged as at 3.

Connecting the lower ends of the legs of each end frame is a brace bar 4which is preferably bent as illustrated in Fig. 3, and connecting thelower ends of the legs of one end frame with the lower ends of the legs3 of the other opposed end frame are the transverse brace bars or rods 5which are connected in any. suitable manner to the brace rods 4.Supported upon these brace rods are supporting rods or `bars 6 whichextend from front to rear of the machine and are preferably located nearthe middle of the machine for the purpose of support. ing a platformupon which the motor 7 is mounted. The end frames are also connected toeach other by transverse bars8 which are disposed at the points wherethe legs 3 are bent outward from the main body of the end frames. The'upper ends of the frames 2 are also connected to each other by meansofthe transverse brace bars 9. It will of course be understood that theframe may be formed in any desiredrnanner and that I do' not wish tolimit myself to the particular manner of bracing or connecting theseframes illustrated in the drawing.

Mounted upon the rear ends of the bars 4 in any suitable manner is thetransverse shaft 10 havin upon it at opposite ends the traction whee s11. Mounted upon the frame bars 4 and 6 in any suitable manner is thedriving syhaft 12 which carri-es thereon a sprocket wheel 13 -over wlch.passes a sprocket chain 1,4, which in turn is driven by a sprocketwheel 15 on the motor shaft 16. Means are provided whereby the sprocketwheel 13 on the shaft 12 may be thrown into and out of gear with themotor shaft. An ordinary clutch represented conventionally at 90 wherebythe loose sprocket wheel 13 may be thrown into and out of engagementwith the shaft 12 may be used for this purpose, as shown in Fig. 4.Carried upon opposite ends of the shaft l2 are the sprocket wheels 17,and mounted upon the shaft 10 are the sprocket wheels 18 to which powerisdelivered from the driving shaft 12 by means of the sprocket chains19. Thus power is transmitted to the traction wheels for the purpose ofmoving the machine over the ground. The forward end of the machine issupported by means of caster wheels 20 which are suitably connectedv tothe frame. A suitable steering mechanism will be connected in anysuitable manner upon the frame. y I, of course, do not desire to limitmyself to any specific steering mechanism as it is obvious that a numberof devices might be arranged to this end. I do not, therefore, desire tolimit myself to the exact manner of operating the traction wheels 11from the driving shaft 12, as means other than the sprocket wheels andthe chain 19 might be used for this purpose.

A suitable rake, traction, and steering mechanism'may be used inconnection with the rake and rack. v

The upper portion of my machine above the motor and above the driversseat is arranged to provide a rack' for the hay which may be gathered upby the rake device. To this end the vertical portions of the end bars 2are connected at front and rear by means of transverse rods, wires orlike members designated 33, these wires, rods or bars forming slatswhich are placed suiiiciently lclose together to form a rack and retainthe hay within the upper portion of the machine.

The floor of the rack is formed by bars, rods, slats or like membersdesignated 34 and extending transversely from one end of the rack to theother and spaced apart a sufficient distance to prevent hay fromdropping down upon the operator. The ends of these bars 34 are connectedto the forwardly and rearwardly extending shafts 35 and 36 which areconnected to the downwardly extending portions of the end frames in anysuitable manner, as will be seen from Fig. 1. The shaft 35 is fixed,while theshaft 36 rotates. The rear side of the rack is formed byupwardly extending bars37 lwhich form the rear vertical bars of theframes 2. Across the space between ,the upright bars 37 are placed thetransverse rods, bars, slats, wires or like members 38 `which assist informing the rack and which prevent the hay from tumbling'out the rearend of the rack. It will be seen that this arrangement provides a rackhavinv sufficient depth to hold a large quantity of Iiay, and thiswithout increasing the length of the wheel` base.

For the purpose of raising the hay gathered by the rake teeth 29 andelevating this hay to a position where it may be dumped into the upperend of the rack, I provide'an endless elevator which is located at therear end of the machine and is driven by suitable gearing from thedriving shaft. This endless elevator consists of two parallel sprocketchains .or flights passing over sprocket wheels, these chains beingconnected by transverse bars having projecting hay-engaging pinsthereon. As illustrated, an upper, transversely extending, fixed shaft39 which forms part of the frame of the machine carries upon it thesprocket rollers or wheels `40 over which pass the sprocket chains 41.These oppositely disposed sprocket chains are connected by slats 42having hay engaging pins 43 extending out therefrom.

Mounted upon the driven shaft 10 are the sprocket wheels 44 under whichthe sprocket chains 41 pass. Thus as the shaft 10 is rotated the endlesselevator will be caused to carry upward the hay gathered by the rakesand deposit the same in the rack. For the purpose of holding the hay tothe elevator in the upward movement of the elevator, I provide the guidebars 45 which are outwardly turnedv at their lower ends and which areinwardly turned at their upper ends. The bars 45 are spaced from theface of the elevator or conveyer, and the upper ends of the bars extendover the upper end of the elevator as shown in Fig. 3 and extendslightly over the upper end of the rack. There are as many of thesevertical guide bars as desired and the bars are supported by means ofupper and lower transverse supporting bars 46 and 47 to which thevertical guide bars 45 are attached in any suitable manner.

Mounted upon the shaft .36 are the sprocket rolls or wheels 48, .and'mounted upon the rotatable shaft 35 are the sprocket wheels or rollers49. Passing over these sprocket wheels is an endless conveyer formed ofthe lateral sprocket chains 50 which are connected by the transverseslats 51. Rotatably mounted upon the shaft 35 is a rectangular frameformed by the longitudinal bars 52 and a transverse bar 53, this bar 53being connected to thel shaft 35 by longitudinal wires, rods or likemembers 54. It will be seen that this frame formed by the members 52 and53 is rotatable upon the shaft 35 and may be raised or lowered andpractically forms a continuation of the fra-me forming the Hoor of therack.

The transverse member 53 forms a fixed' shaft upon which are mounted therotatable sprocket wheels 55 over which the sprocket chains 50 pass. Itwill be seen that when this frame or extension of the main floor of therack is turned downward, the. upper flight of lthe sprocket chains 50will be drawn against the driving sprocket rollers 49 on the shaft 35,and that when the extension formed by the members 52 and 53 is raised,the lower fiight of the endless conveyer will be drawn against therollers 49. Thus no matter whether the extension of the floor isupwardly inclined or downwardly inclined, the endless conveyer will betaut and be held in positive engagement with the driving sprocket wheels49. Any suitable means may be used for raising or lowering the extensionand as a means to this end I have shown a yoke 56 attached to the sidebars 52 and having a flexible connection 57 which runs over a pulley 58and is then connected to the frame in any suitable manner so that theflexible connection may be shortened or lengthened to thus raise orlower the extension of the conveyer frame. For the purpose of drivingthe sprocket chains 50, I provide the shaft 35 with a gear wheel 60which is engaged by a bevel gear wheel- 61 carried upon a short shaft62. This 'shaft also carries upon it the sprocket wheel 63 over whichpasses a s rocket chain 64 whichpasses overa sproc et wheel 65 looselymounted upon the shaft ,12. -.Also loosely mounted upon the shaft 12 isa sleeve 66 carrying a sprocket wheel 67 over which passes a sprocketVchain 68 which is driven from a s rocket wheel 69 on the shaft 10.

The eeve upon which the wheel 65 is mounted is provided with clutchteeth 70 adapted to engage the clutch teeth on the sleeve 66, and byshifting the sleeve 65 into and out of engagement with the sleeve 66,the

conveyer mechanism may be driven or left stationary as desired. Underordinary circumstances and when hay is gathered, the conveyer will ofcourse be stationary, but when it is desired to dump the hay, theconveyer is placed in engagement with the driving gear and operated. Iof course do not wish to limit myself to any specific arrangement fordriving this conveyer. have shown for this purpose a train of gearingwhich I believe to be thoroughly effective, but it will be perfectlyobvious that other gearing might be substituted without departin fromthe spirit of the invention. It is o tentimes desirable to provide meansfor stacking i hay or lifting hay to a higher elevationr than islpossible means of the rack of the auxiliary conveyer formed by thechains 50 and slats 51. For this purpose I provide the opposite end ofthe rack with a double auxiliary conveyer illustrated on the right handendof Fig. 1. As a means to this end I mount upon the end frame oppositeto the shaft 35 a transversely extending fixed shaft 71 located slightlybelow the level of the shaft36 carrying upon it the sprocket wheels 48.These sprocket wheels are mounted upon a sleeve 72 which carries atoothed gear 73. This gear 73 meshes with an idler toothed gear wheel73', while the latter in turn engages a gear 74 carried upon the byyevident from what has gone before.

shaft 36. It will be seen that the rotation of the shaft 36 caused bythe conveyer passing thercover will cause the rotation of the shaft 7land a like movement of the conveyer operated by the sprocket wheel 72.This auxiliary conveyer, like 'the conveyer first described, consists ofthe oppositely disposed parallel sprocket chains 75 connected bytransverse slats v76. These chains pass over idler rollers 0r sprocketwheels 77 mounted upon a shaft 78 which forms a part o-f the frame ofthe auxiliary conveyer. As illustrated in the drawings, the ends of thefixed shaft 78 are bent at right angles and forward of the main frame soas to engage over fixed shaft 71. The conveyer frame just described is,of course, adapted to be turned u close one end of) the hay rack in thesame manner as the conveyer at the other end, and therefore in order tosecure a fuller length for the last described conveyer, it is best toadd to it one or more sections. As illustrated in the drawings, onesection 79 is added to the conveyer75-76 and comprises a U-shaped framehingedly mounted upon the shaft 78. This U.shaped shaft into suchposition as to frame carries sprocket wheels 80 and has a Y countershaft81 carrying upon it gear wheels 82 which engage through idlers 82 withgear wheels 83 mounted upon the shaft 78. The shaft 81 carries sprocketwheels 8O over which pass sprocket chains 84 with transverse slats 85.

In order to revent the hay gathered in the hay rack rom being carriedout and falling from the front and rear of the cnveyer forming thebottom of the rack, I preferably attach to the end frames 2 the angularguards 86 whose horizontally disposed fianges extend inward immediatelyover the conveyer which forms the bottom of the hay rack.y

When the extension 52 of the hay rack is upwardly inclined inorder tostack the hay upon a stack which is higher than the level of the bottomof the rack, itI is necessary to provide some means to prevent the upperstretches of the chains 51 from leaving the sprocket wheels 49, and tothat end I mount in any suitable manner above each of the sprocketwheels 49 the bowed guides 87 which extend over the sprocketwheels, thel extremities of the guides being depressed sufiiciently so as to forcethe upper stretch of the sprocket chain into proper driving engagementwith the sprocket wheel 49 as illustrated in Fig. 4.

The operation of my invention will be The machine may either be drawnover the field by draft animals, or else propelled by its own power,preferably the latter. As the machine is propelled over the field, thehay will be gathered by the rake teeth 29. `As

iso

the machine moves over the field, the elevator at the rear end thereofwill raise the hay gathered by the rakes upward between the outerstretch of the elevator and the guide bars 45 and the hay will be dumpedinto the upper portion of the hay rack formed by the end pieces 2, theconnecting rods and 38 between the end pieces, and the lateral pivotedconveyer sections which are of course movable up in such position as toform ends to the hay rack. AOf course when the machine is moving acrossa iield for the purpose of gathering the hay and depositing it into therack, the sprocket wheel 65 and the sprocket Wheel 67 is shifted so thatno power 1s transmitted to the conveyers. When the rack reaches theplace .where the hay is to be stacked, the driving traction wheels aredisconnected from the driving shaft 12 and the sprocket wheel 67 isconnected to the driving shaft, thus driving the shaft 62 and operatingthe horizontally disposed conveyers, thus carrying the hay out from therack and depositing it upon the stack or in any desired place.

It is obvious that the frame formed by the bars 52 and the shaft 53 maybe elevated to any desired inclination and may be gradually raised asthe stack rises.

While I have shown what I believe to be the most effective form of myinvention, I do not wish to be limited thereto as it is obvious thatmany changes might be made without departing from the spirit thereof.

lVhat I claim is:

1. In a hay gathering machine of the character described, a mainsupporting frame, a hay rack mounted upon the frame and including anupwardly extending back and front, a conveyer pivotally mounted upon themain frame-at one end thereof approximately at the level of the ioor ofthe rack, a conveyer carried upon the main frame and the conveyersupporting frame and forming the floor of the rack and one end of therack when the pivoted conveyer supporting frame is turned to a verticalposition, means for driving the said conveyer, and means for disengagingthe conveyer from the driving means.

2.In a hay gathering machine of the character described, a mainsupporting frame, a hay rack mounted upon thevfrarne and open at itsends and including upwardly extending front and rear members, auxiliaryframes pivotally mounted at the ends of the main frame each at a pointapproximately level with the floor of the hay rack, and endlessconveyers mounted upon said auxiliary frames and extending across thefloor of the rack, said auxiliary frames being movable into a verticalposition to close the ends of the rack or into a horizontal position.

3. In a hay gathering machine of the rack when the pivoted frame isturned to a horizontal position, a `vertically disposed conveyerconnected at one side of the rack and discharging there into drivingmeans for operating said conveyers, and means for independentlyconnecting either one of the conveyers to said driving means ordisconnecting it therefrom.

4. In a hay gathering machine of the character described, a mainsupporting frame, a hay rack mounted upon the frame and including avertically disposed back and a vertically disposed front, auxiliaryconveyer supporting frames pivotally mounted upon the main frame each ata pointfapproximately level with the floor of the rack and extending outon opposite sides thereof, said supporting frames being adapted to beturned up to form ends closing the ends of the hay rack, endless`conveyers operating across the floor of the rack and extending over andcarried by said auxiliary frames, means for operating the endlessconveyers, and means for raising and lowering the endless conveyersat'any desired angle.

5. In agathering machine of the character described, main supportingframe, a hay rack mounted upon the frame and including verticallydisposed back and a vertically disposed front, a conveyer supportingframe pivotally mounted upon the main frame at one end thereofapproximately at the level of the floor of the rack, an endless conveyercarried upon the main frame and the conveyer supporting frame andforming the front of the rack and one end of the rack when the pivotedconveyer supporting frame is turned to a vertical position, an auxiliaryconveyer frame pivotally supported from the end of the first-namedpivoted conveyer frame, and an endless conveyer operating thereover.

6. In a gathering machine of the character described, main supportingframes, a hay rack mounted upon the frame and including a verticallydisposed back and a vertically disposed front, a conveyer supportingframe pivotally mounted upon the main frame at one end thereof at thelevel `of the floor of the rack, an endless conveyer carried upon themam frame and the conveyer supporting frame mnd forming the front of therack and one end of the rack when the pivoted conveyer supporting frameis turned to a vertical position, an auxiliary conveyer frame pivotallysupported from the end of the first-named pivoted conveyer frame, anendless conveyer operating thereover, and means for operating thelastnamed endless conveyer from the first-- named endless conveyer.

7. In a hay gathering machine of the character described, a mainsupporting frame, a hay rack mounted upon the frame and including avertically disposed back and a vertically disposed front, a conveyersupporting frame pivotally mounted upon the main rame at one end thereofapproximately at the level of the iioor of the rack, endless conveyerscarried upon t e main frame and the conveyer su porting frames andforming the iioorv of the rack and opposite' ends of the rack when thepivoted conveyer supporting frames are turned to a verticalA position,means for driving the conveyers simultaneously in one direction or theother direction, and means for .disconnecting the endless conveyers fromthe driving means.

main frame at one endl thereof approXimately at the level of the floorof the rack, a conveyer su porting frame pivotally mounted upon t e mainframe at the other end thereof approximately at a level with the floorof the rack, endless conveyers mounted upon the main frame and thepivotally supported frames, means for driving said endless conveyers inone direction or the other, means for raising or lowering the pivotedconveyer supporting frames to close or open the ends of the rack, andmeans Jfor disconnecting all of said conveyers from engagement with thedrivin means.

In testimon whereof I a X my signature in presence -o two witnesses.

WALLACE G. GALLAHER.

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